Pakistanis brave Taliban threats to cast their votes

Deadly blasts near polling booths have overshadowed the historic election.

AFP: Asif Hassan

At least 11 people have been killed and dozens injured in a bomb blast in Pakistan's largest city Karachi as the country braves Taliban threats and votes in today's national and provincial elections.

Polls opened on Saturday morning and close at 5:00pm (local time), allowing an electorate of more than 86 million to vote for the 342-member national assembly and four provincial assemblies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan.

Pakistan's Election Commission says despite a number of militant attacks across the country there's been a good turnout for today's landmark elections.

The vote marks Pakistan's first transition from one civilian government to another in its 66-year history.

A bomb targeting a candidate in the Awami National Party (ANP) in the commercial hub, Karachi, has killed at least 17 people and wounded 30, followed by another blast minutes later.

A blast in the northern city of Peshawar also injured a number of women voters.

More than 600,000 security personnel have been deployed nationwide at polling stations amid warnings from the Taliban to voters to stay away.

The election commission says turnout at polling booths was around 30 per cent by midday and is expected to rise to 60 per cent before the polls close.

Around half the estimated 70,000 polling stations have been declared at risk of attack, many of them in insurgency-torn parts of Baluchistan and the north-west.

"Despite all threats I will go out to vote at all costs," one voter said.

"I will definitely cast my vote for the betterment of Pakistan and upcoming generations."

Another voter was equally as defiant: "I will cast my vote whether there are blasts or anything else."

"It is our right to vote. I will vote so that Pakistan's problems are solved."

The run-up to the election has been labelled the country's deadliest with the Taliban branding democracy un-Islamic and waging a campaign of attacks against the main secular parties, killing more than 120 people.

The country's most prominent liberal parties have been forced to curtail some of their election campaigning after being singled out for attacks by the Taliban.

ABC's South Asia correspondent Michael Edward's told News 24 there had been a big turnout at polls despite concerns about voter safety.

People here are quite optimistic and upbeat about it all. But obviously the situation is much worse in Karachi where from have been several attacks and also tense up in the tribal areas of Pakistan. One in which two people were killed, a member of the Pakistan secular party up there.

It's an extremely important vote for Pakistan because it will be the first time one civilian government passes over power to civilian government in the country's history which is quite remarkable.

They realise it's a big chance to see how stable their democracy is also. There are a lot of problems here in Pakistan that the government needs to address.

These include violence at the hands of the Taliban, also a stagnating economy and an issue which is very much on people's mind, energy shortages here.

It's a big test to see who they elect and whether or not they can do something about those problems.

True democracy ahead?

The election is predicted to be a contest between the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, head of the centre-right Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), and the cricket legend Imran Khan, leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Neither have been the target of Taliban attacks.

Mr Khan has had a last-minute surge of support after fracturing his spine when he fell from a stage at a campaign rally on Tuesday.

He is currently in hospital - and unable to vote in the election - but is expected to make a full recovery.

Mohammed Jahangir, a journalist for a business newspaper, told AFP the election was very important.

"For the first time we have crossed five years of real democracy," he said.

"I think this is going to be the start of true democracy in Pakistan.

"We are moving in the right direction - either PTI comes or N-league comes. Both parties are good."